People
who ate seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day had a 42% lower risk
of death at any point in time than those who ate less than one portion, reports
a new UCL study.

Researchers used the Health Survey for England to study the eating habits
of 65,226 people representative of the English population between 2001 and
2013, and found that the more fruit and vegetables they ate, the less likely
they were to die at any age. Eating seven or more portions reduces the specific
risks of death by cancer and heart disease by 25% and 31% respectively. The
research also showed that vegetables have significantly higher health benefits
than fruit.

This is the first study to link fruit and vegetable consumption with
all-cause, cancer and heart disease deaths in a nationally-representative
population, the first to quantify health benefits per-portion, and the first to
identify the types of fruit and vegetable with the most benefit.

Compared to eating less than one portion of fruit and vegetables, the
risk of death by any cause is reduced by 14% by eating one to three portions,
29% for three to five portions, 36% for five to seven portions and 42% for
seven or more. These figures are adjusted for sex, age, cigarette smoking,
social class, Body Mass Index, education, physical activity and alcohol intake,
and exclude deaths within a year of the food survey.

The study, published in the Journal of
Epidemiology & Community Health, found that vegetables had the
strongest protective effect, with each daily portion reducing overall risk of
death by 16%. Salad contributed to a 13% risk reduction per portion, and each
portion of fresh fruit was associated with a smaller but still significant 4%
reduction.

"We all know that
eating fruit and vegetables is healthy, but the size of the effect is
staggering," says Dr Oyinlola Oyebode of UCL's Department of Epidemiology &
Public Health, lead author of the study. "The clear message here is that the
more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to die at any age.
Vegetables have a larger effect than fruit, but fruit still makes a real
difference. If you're happy to snack on
carrots or other vegetables, then that is a great choice but if you fancy
something sweeter, a banana or any fruit will also do you good."

Whatever your starting point, it is always worth eating more fruit and vegetables. In our study even those eating one to three portions had a significantly lower risk than those eating less than one.

Dr Oyinlola Oyebode

The findings lend
support to the Australian government's 'Go for 2 + 5' guidelines, which recommend
eating two portions of fruit and five of vegetables. The UK Department of
Health recommends '5 a day', while 'Fruit and Veggies - More Matters' is the
key message in the USA.

"Our study shows
that people following Australia's 'Go for 2 + 5' advice will reap huge health
benefits," says Dr Oyebode. "However, people shouldn't feel daunted by a big
target like seven. Whatever your starting point, it is always worth eating more
fruit and vegetables. In our study even those eating one to three portions had
a significantly lower risk than those eating less than one."

The researchers
found no evidence of significant benefit from fruit juice, and canned and
frozen fruit appeared to increase risk of death by 17% per portion. The survey
did not distinguish between canned and frozen fruit so this finding is
difficult to interpret. Canned fruit products are almost four times more
popular than frozen fruit in Europe, so it is likely
that canned fruit dominated this effect.

"Most canned fruit
contains high sugar levels and cheaper varieties are packed in syrup rather
than fruit juice," explains Dr Oyebode. "The negative health impacts of the
sugar may well outweigh any benefits. Another possibility is that there are
confounding factors that we could not control for, such as poor access to fresh
groceries among people who have pre-existing health conditions, hectic
lifestyles or who live in deprived areas."